Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, left, speaks with Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., in the course of the Ticketmaster listening to on Jan. 24.

Andrew Harnik/AP

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Andrew Harnik/AP

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, left, speaks with Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., in the course of the Ticketmaster listening to on Jan. 24.

Andrew Harnik/AP

Almost precisely one month after senators held a hearing on points within the ticketing business, they’re calling on the U.S. Department of Justice to proceed analyzing what they name the “anticompetitive conduct” of Ticketmaster and its guardian firm, Live Nation.

The ticketing large got here beneath renewed scrutiny after the Taylor Swift presale debacle in November, which prompted widespread accusations of monopolistic habits (in addition to a number of state client safety investigations and a fan-led antitrust lawsuit).

The Justice Department had reportedly opened an antitrust investigation into the corporate even earlier than that ill-fated sale. NPR has reached out to Live Nation and the Justice Department for remark.

Live Nation has acknowledged areas of enchancment, particularly in the case of bots and scalpers, however — each in a written statement and congressional testimony — denied partaking in habits that will justify antitrust litigation or altering its enterprise practices.

But that is evidently completed little to assuage the considerations of lawmakers on either side of the aisle who’ve demanded solutions and now say they don’t seem to be glad with what they’ve gotten up to now.

Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Mike Lee, R-Utah — who lead the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust, and Consumer Rights — sent a letter on Wednesday to the Justice Department presenting proof from the January listening to and urging it to observe up on unanswered questions.

Writing to Jonathan Kanter, the assistant legal professional common for the Antitrust Division, the senators burdened that all the witnesses aside from Live Nation’s president had testified that the corporate’s practices hurt the music business. And they mentioned Live Nation hasn’t sufficiently responded to all of their questions, each on the listening to and after.

“Live Nation’s responses amount to ‘trust us.’ We believe that is wholly insufficient,” they wrote. “We thank you for your prompt attention to these matters and encourage the Antitrust Division to take action if it finds that Ticketmaster has walled itself off from competitive pressure at the expense of the industry and fans.”

These are the questions that lawmakers need answered

The senators’ letter is split into two major lists: allegations towards Ticketmaster and follow-up inquiries to which they discovered the corporate’s response missing.

The listening to featured testimony from antitrust specialists, leisure firm executives and a musician, who collectively painted an image of an business that’s dominated by one outsized firm on the expense of followers, venues and artists.

Some of the problems they raised concerned Live Nation’s pricing fashions and charges, more and more lengthy contracts with rivals and alleged retaliatory habits towards artists and venues that do not need to work with it.

Lawmakers within the room appeared to agree that the corporate’s dominance poses an issue within the business, even when they’d totally different concepts for methods to tackle it. After the listening to, the subcommittee leaders despatched Live Nation a letter with seven extra questions, requesting a response by Feb. 15.

“As the hearing demonstrated, there is a strong bipartisan consensus about taking steps to improve the way America’s ticketing industry functions,” they wrote. “We must ensure that we have competition in the market to drive down prices, encourage companies to innovate, and give consumers choice.”

Klobuchar and Lee now say Live Nation has “largely failed” to reply these questions.

Senators requested what number of live shows every year have been promoted by Live Nation and ticketed by Ticketmaster. It says the corporate mentioned it was “unable to determine” the reply “in the time available” however didn’t ask for an extension.

They additionally requested Live Nation if it could decide to having third-party audits to verify that it is not retaliating, in risk or actuality, towards venues that pursue different ticketing suppliers.

Lawmakers say Live Nation refused, responding: “Live Nation does not need to be subject to a consent decree or any similar legal obligation to refrain from retaliating against a venue for using another company’s ticketing services, and from threatening to retaliate for such choosing of another ticketing company.”

There are additionally a number of questions that senators say Live Nation did not reply in any respect, together with about how most of the high 100 arenas it supplies ticketing providers for and whether or not it is entered into any agreements with venues the place the contract time period for ticketing providers is longer than 5 years.

The Justice Department has not confirmed or commented publicly on a possible antitrust investigation into Live Nation, although Klobuchar and different senators have mentioned that the proof gathered at their current listening to could possibly be helpful for such a probe — in addition to for passing laws on this space.